


unbendable

by lavenderlotion



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Background Relationships, Beach Divorce Fix-It (X-Men), Brotherhood of Mutants, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Mutant Husbands, Post X-Men: First Class, Telepathy, Teleportation
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:42:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23501005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lavenderlotion/pseuds/lavenderlotion
Summary: “So you see,” Erik whispered into the scant space between their lips with tears in his eyes and grief in both their hearts, and he explained, “I cannot bend, not on this, but I will not bend on you, either.”
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Comments: 31
Kudos: 60





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> idk blame step???

_ “My love, _ we want the same things,” Erik’s voice shook unsteadily, like he was standing upon the edge of a great height and only his words and his words alone would determine whether or fell off the edge or moved back to safety.

Charles wasn’t sure what he wanted for him, but he looked up into a pair of eyes that he’d fallen in love and wondered how they could possibly look so foreign to him, trapped beneath the wretched helm of the horrible piece of metal Erik had over his head. He never would have thought that something so precious to Erik would hurt him so disastrously, but the shining helmet was encasing Erik’s thoughts in a disgusting blankness that made Charles want to hurl each time he managed to forget himself and reach for Erik’s mind.

Which, after months of them being together and falling in love with one another, was such a strongly ingrained habit that he couldn’t stop himself from pressing his mind out only to be left gasping and disappointed when all he met was a horrible, draining  _ nothing.  _ There was a reply waiting on Charles’ lips but as he stared at the endless grey of Erik’s iris he found he couldn’t utter a single word. 

“You are a bastard, Erik Lehnsherr,” Charles rasped after the silence had stretched between them, the only noise the crashing waves against the shore and the roaring panic of their companion’s minds that Charles did his very best to tune out. 

The heat of the Cuban sun sucked the moisture from his mouth but not from his eyes, leaving his throat parched but his eyes burning, and the next time he blinked a tear tracked down his cheek only to be wiped away by the leather of Erik’s glove as it cupped his face gently. Charles wasn’t sure how such a hard man could hold him with so much care; perhaps their biggest problem was that Erik didn’t know, either. 

“I know,” Erik agreed, with a smile on his face that looked as much as a grimace as Charles had ever seen. “But I love you.”

Charles’ laugh was wooden, hollowed out of any humour as it scraped out of his throat. He shook his head and ignored the twinges of pain up his back that the action caused, closing his eyes against the blurred vision of the man he loved more than he’d ever imagined being able to love another soul. “I love you, too. That’s never been the question.”

“You’re right, Charles. The question has always been your beliefs,” Erik told him in a tone of voice that sounded far too superior for the current situation. 

_ “My beliefs?” _ Charles asked incredulously, his eyes snapping open and an argument on his tongue that died when he saw the soft curve to Erik’s smile and felt the familiar,  _ welcoming _ brush of Erik’s mind that drew him right in and quenched his painful thirst. 

“My God,” Charles murmured, allowing himself to dive as deeply into Erik’s mind as he had that very first night in the water and then deeper still to make up for the way Erik had locked him out, selfishly pushing past any mental walls Erik may have tried to erect and taking in it all without a single thought to hold himself back. 

Erik was the most beautiful man that Charles had ever seen, and his mind was equally the most beautiful place Charles had ever been. He luxuriated in Erik’s thoughts and allowed himself to get lost, just for a moment, within the gorgeous cross-work of mental organization that made up Erik’s truly spectacular thoughts. The deeper he delved, however, the darker those thoughts became, until Charles was gasping as horrific memory after horrific memory washed over him and burrowed under his skin. 

By the time he came back to himself, Erik was staring down at him with more emotion in his eyes than Charles had ever seen from him, and he barely managed to whisper the man’s name before his voice broke apart. 

He finally understood. 

“So you see,” Erik whispered into the scant space between their lips with tears in his eyes and grief in both their hearts, and he explained, “I cannot bend, not on this, but I will not bend on you, either.”

“You’re an impossible man,” Charles told him, and then moved Erik down for a kiss with the easiest pull at his mind, sharing a sweet moment in which their love for one another was echoed by a feedback loop of their thoughts until they were both packed full of the way they cared for the other, before pressing forward the lack of feeling through his whole lower body. Erik bit into his bottom lip and Charles felt it for what it was: an apology, sorrow, his grief, all bleeding into Charles’ mind from where Erik wasn’t even trying to hold himself back any longer. 

“Good thing we can both do the impossible, isn’t it?” Erik asked against his lips.

Then, he was sitting up and barking out harsh orders in Russian, demanding the teleporter get them to the safety of a hospital. From Charles’ brush against his mind, the red-skinned man didn’t even think to protest and Charles gazed in amazement as Erik commanded a beachful of mutants as if it were his birthright, and wondered if perhaps it was. If leading was Erik’s birthright... well, Charles wouldn’t mind following at his side. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lol surprise

As Charles laid, completely still and unable to move much even if he’d wanted to, he did his very best to tune out the sound of Erik’s pacing. Compounded on top of that annoying rhythm was Erik’s seemingly unending panic, loud enough that Charles’ eye had begun to twitch in irritation. Erik’s thoughts were grating along the edges of his tired mind, keeping him awake when all he wanted to do was rest now that he’d had his back examined. 

_ That _ had been one of the most trying experiences Charles had ever been through, seeing as he’d heard every single thought that rushed through the hospital crew’s mind as they looked at his injury and examined his spine. The final verdict had been a haphazard mix of different thoughts from the medical staff that had done  _ very _ little to inspire any confidence in Charles from the way they were all talking out of their ass, so he’d had the teleporter procure Hank from the beach. 

The final verdict from Hank hadn’t been entirely positive, but he’d initiated that it was not as bad as it could have been. 

At least, that was what he and the main doctor who had examined Charles had decided upon after a rather lengthy discussion. Hank, who was still  _ blue— _ which had caused the doctor to nearly cower in fear—had delivered the news with a soft sorrow painting his thoughts. Charles had assured him it was quite alright, and then a nurse had come into the room only to flee after she’d taken a single look at Hank. 

That had been the absolute  _ last thing _ that Hank had needed with how uncertain he already felt in his new form, but Charles hadn’t had it in him to do anything about it and had been glad when the teleporter and tornado-maker approached Hank with less-than-innocent intentions. 

Raven and the others had already been brought back to the mansion, Charles knew from Azazel’s report to Erik, along with Moira who had been projecting a mountain of guilt the last time Charles had seen her. He hadn’t it in him to deal with that, either, so the teleporter had whisked her away with barely a glance from Erik. 

And so  _ now, _ hours later, it was only Charles and Erik left in the small hospital room. The staff had tried asking Erik to leave, but the smile he’d given the doctor as he not-so-politely told him off had terrified the man, and Erik hadn’t been asked again. Charles almost wished that he had, however, as Erik was still strung high with panic and freaking the hell out, causing Charles’ mind to throb painfully with how loudly he was projecting his worry and fear. 

While Charles could certainly understand where he was coming from and was quite certain that he would be in the same state had it been Erik in the hospital bed, he was rather annoyed. 

Because as it was, Erik was not the one in the hospital bed. Rather it was  _ Charles _ in the bed, and  _ Erik’s _ thoughts that were being entirely too loud, which had been steadily pushing Charles towards a breaking point for the last several hours. 

“Erik, if you don’t shut your mind the hell up I’m going to put you into a goddamn coma,” Charles snapped harshly, his words clipped with his irritation and raised with his anger. 

Erik stopped pacing,  _ thank goodness, _ and sent Charles a look that made him feel marginally guilty. He was quite sure he would have felt worse, if he had the energy to feel anything at all, but as it was everything felt muted. It was as if he was experiencing everything from a distance and... well, he truly just needed to rest. 

“My apologies for caring too deeply about the man I love,” Erik snapped right back, the bastard.

“That’s not fair,” Charles told him with a pout, adding, “don’t use that against me when I’m in pain.”

Despite absolutely not meaning for it to do so, Erik’s mind flashed with grief that nearly took him to his knees. 

“Oh, my love.” Charles reached out a hand and Erik was there immediately, sliding his fingers across Charles’ palm and wrapping them around his wrist to hold him tightly. 

They’d always fit together so well, like they’d been meant to find one another Charles had never believed much in soulmates or any other silly fairy tales, but as Erik folded himself over Charles’ body, hiding himself against his chest, Charles rather thought they were made to fit together. Charles hugged him as best as he could, and wrapped his mind soothingly around Erik’s to make up for his weak grip. 

“You should have let me practise with the bullets,” Erik whispered against his neck, the words getting lost against his skin. 

Charles laughed, but it was wet, tinged with bitterness, and he kissed Erik’s temple. “When we’re back,” Charles told him, and he held the man he loved as they both began to cry. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if you have any thoughts about this, PLEASE leave them down below!

**Author's Note:**

> come say hi to me on [tumblr](https://lavender-lotion.tumblr.com/)!  
> comments and kudos are much appreciated! 
> 
> i run an x-men discord server! check it out [here!](https://discord.gg/3uG3VNP)


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